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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27530464">Gotham's Streets are Cold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ango_Isqua/pseuds/Ango_Isqua'>Ango_Isqua</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gotham (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bruce Needs a Hug, Bruce Wayne Loves Selina Kyle, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Kissing, Mentioned Harvey Bullock, Post-Episode: s05e12 The Beginning..., Protective Alfred Pennyworth, Protective Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle is Catwoman, Sleepy Cuddles, Trust</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:54:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27530464</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ango_Isqua/pseuds/Ango_Isqua</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce came back after ten years, and Selina is not about to simply forgive and forget, but there was a time when they were just about all the other had. So she will be there for him, as she promised she would be, and he will remain firmly on her side.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alfred Pennyworth &amp; Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle &amp; Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
  <span>It was raining on the Gotham streets, and Selina was shivering against the cold metal of the fire escape. The smoke from the subway vents swirled through the alley, adding to the chill. She sat, perched, wondering what she was doing there. Every year since that first fateful night she had come. Bruce had joined her a few times, they would sit together in silence, remembering. Bruce had been gone for a long time, but without fail she would be here every year. He was back now, and they hadn’t spoken since the rooftop weeks ago. It didn’t even occur to her, until she sensed a shape moving in her peripheral vision, that he might come as well. Perhaps it had, and she simply didn’t want to admit it to herself. Regardless, there he was, on the roof across from her in that absurd outfit. She did not break the silence, neither did he, but it was comforting to know that she wasn’t alone in her vigil anymore. A frown creased her forehead. She should not be comforted by him. He had been gone for ten years. Ten years. They had been apart for longer than they’d been together, and yet she had stopped shivering. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Shaking off her thoughts she stood, and looked up at Bruce for the first time. He was watching her, and when their eyes met Selina gave him a brief nod. She scaled the fire escape and made her way home across the roofs. It would have felt wrong not to acknowledge him, not to acknowledge the history that ten years could not erase, but it had still hurt to look into his eyes. The apologies there were ones Selina was not yet prepared to accept. </span>
</p><p>***</p><p>
  <span>   Bruce remained on the roof long after Selina left. He had not been back here for ten years, and the memories that had been homeless for so long suddenly sprung into blinding focus. Eventually though, he stood, and made his way through the city. It was strange to be back. Everything was the same, and yet if you looked a little deeper you could see the changes. The buildings that had fallen had risen up differently. Even the people who had been staples of the city; the bums in that alley, the dealer on that corner, were changed. Unfamiliar faces in front of unfamiliar buildings, but it was the same. Bruce didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>   He didn’t bother to look for a crime to stop. He already had his next mission planned out, but not tonight. Tonight he would go home, drink tea with Alfred, and pretend it was any other day. So he traveled back across the city to where the car was parked on the outskirts. The drive back to the new manor was quick, but the silence was beginning to feel cold. Bruce pulled into the garage and made his way down to the cavernous space that had become a base of operations. Stripping off the suit and pulling on some dry clothes allowed the cold to seep away a little. The warm light of the kitchen, the hot tea waiting for him, and Alfred’s presence all served to warm him further. The two men sat and talked. Ten years was a lot to catch up on. It was past midnight when Alfred turned in. Bruce sat alone in the kitchen, the silence beginning to cool him once again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>   There was no chance of him sleeping, so he stayed, head rested on his fists. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, staring into the middle distance, when he felt her walk in. She settled across from him, and let her hand rest between them. Bruce didn’t look at her, but he lay his hand in hers and let it warm him. They didn’t speak, but the silence wasn’t cold. When the sun broke through the window and painted rainbows across the walls, she stood, and left. He felt his heart break a little, but at the same time he knew he deserved it. He had left first. </span>
</p><p>***</p><p>
  <span>   Selina was back in Gotham before the sun was done rising. She had made it home, after leaving Bruce in the alley, but the room and the silence chilled her deeper than the rain had. Although she changed into dry clothes and held close to her strays for warmth, the quiet nipped like frost at her ears and fingers. So, she stood, and once again made her way through the foggy drizzle of the Gotham streets. It was a long walk to Wayne Manor, but she knew she would be warm there. The window was unlocked, and stepping into the library was like stepping into a memory. The house was dark, but a light spilled out of the kitchen so that was where she went. Soft as her steps were she knew he sensed her as soon as she walked in. Bruce was sitting at the table in a brooding pose she had seen a hundred times, but as she settled across from him and saw the distantly frosty look in his eyes Selina knew he was just as cold as she. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>   He took her offered hand, neither of them looking at each other, and she allowed the warmth to flutter back in. For the hours they sat together it was a war in her mind. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Leave him to freeze, as he did to you. Hold him close. He abandoned you. He protected you. Do not forgive. Do not forget. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The sun broke over the horizon, and she left. Selina could hear his heart break as she walked away, but could not bring herself to care. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   Selina woke up groggily. Her mind was swirling, and her mouth was dry and tacky. The first thing she saw when her eyes fluttered open was Bruce. He was sitting next to her bed looking through a stack of papers. She took the moment to watch him. Selina hadn’t really looked at him since he’d been back. She’d only seen him without the cowl once, and even then had very carefully avoided looking at him. Now, though, she allowed her eyes to reacquaint themselves with him. He was a bit taller than he’d been, and a bit broader. She could see some new scars peeking out of the edges of his sweater, and his hair was very slightly shorter than she remembered. His face was the same. A little more weathered perhaps, but the same nose, the same chin, the same solemn expression. </p><p>    She shifted slightly, rusting the paper hospital sheets. Hospital sheets, she was in a hospital. Her mind rushed to place her latest memories, but was horrifyingly coming up empty. </p><p>    “Bruce?” Her voice was rough, and the word grated as it came up her throat. As soon as she spoke Bruce’s head shot up and his serious eyes fell on her. </p><p>    “Selina, are you all right?” His voice was calm, as was his way, but she could see the signs of worry and tension through his body. He reached for a glass on the table beside her bed, and handed it to her. “Here, drink, they’re giving you fluids but it will help your throat.” Selina eased herself up until she was sitting, and paused to let her head settle. She accepted the glass, and let the water sooth her parched throat. Bruce’s eyes did not leave her face. “What do you remember?” Selina paused, and tried to collect her thoughts once again.</p><p>   “I had the diamond.” Bruce’s lips quirked a little, but he said nothing. “I got it to my fence and went home.” She stopped for a moment, thinking back. “I’m not sure what happened then, but I woke up blindfolded and tied to a post. There was a man there, he wanted to know where the diamond was. I told him I didn’t have it. He wouldn’t listen.” She trailed off, and took another gulp of water. “Bastard kept hitting me, as if that would help.” She wasn’t looking at him, but could almost picture his face. The slight frown that seemed to be permanently etched onto his features. “Finally came to his senses, but then the sonofabitch just left me there!” Her voice got a little heated. “He took all my weapons, even ripped the claws out of my gloves. I was trapped there. How long was I tied up?” Her voice had quieted almost to a whisper at the last question. </p><p>   Bruce pulled his chair closer, and took her hand with the clear intent that marked all his movements. “I think it was about two days. When I found you, you were unconscious, the ropes were all that were holding you up.” He stopped, his eyes questioning, but at her silence he continued. “That was last night. I brought you here immediately, and we’ve been waiting for you to wake up.” Selina sighed and looked down, unable to meet his unwavering scrutiny. She was beginning to remember. The days were hazes in her mind. Nothing was clear. Nothing except the constant, bone deep knowledge, that no one was coming for her. That there was no one in the world who would notice or care that she was gone. </p><p>   “You came for me.” Her voice was a whisper, and had Selina not been so exhausted she would have been embarrassed at the tone. Bruce squeezed her hand.</p><p>   “Always, whenever you need me.” His words echoed her own, all those years ago, and she turned away. He hadn’t been. She had needed him, and he had left. Him being here now could not make up for ten years of that same promise being fundamentally broken. </p><p>***</p><p>   Bruce watched as she turned her back on him, her curls twisted together on the pillow. It was nothing he did not deserve, and it didn’t matter anyway. They had been at odds before, a hundred times it seemed. He had made a promise; to always be on her side, and he would not break it now. So Bruce made a silent promise to Selina, just as Alfred had once tried to do to him. He would be there whenever she needed him, no matter how many times she pushed him away. In the last ten years there had been other loves, other losses, other friends, other foes, but she had remained in his mind and in his heart. For every letter he had written Alfred there was one for her as well. Not once did he ever get a reply, but he never stopped sending the letters. He would not give up on her, his first real friend, his first love. So Bruce remained by her side until the nurse said Selina was ready to leave. He watched as she slipped into the street, easily dodging pedestrians and snowflakes, and disappeared in the smoke of a vendor’s booth. </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   There was a bitter wind blowing down the Gotham streets, whipping away the sounds of the city. The moon had risen full in the sky, but brought no warmth to the people shivering below. Selina sat on the dock, her feet dangling off the pier, staring at the rare clear sky. The moon sat, mirrored in the water, and stared back. The peace of the moment was suddenly broken by men shouting further down the dock. Selina sighed. It was time for her to get home anyway, the chill was beginning to sink into her bones. She stood and rubbed her arms in an attempt to get some feeling back. It was a simple path home, up, and across the roofs. As she scaled the ladder leading to the nearest warehouse she caught a glimpse of the men she had heard before. They were unloading a large shipping container, most of them had machine guns, and Selina would have stayed far away had she not seen a dark shape glide down onto a rooftop above the group. Cursing herself and Bruce Wayne she ran across the roof and lept to the next until she could clearly see what was going on. </p><p>   As soon as her vantage point allowed her to see inside the container she cursed again. Women, those bastards were unloading women. She seethed quietly and shot another look over to Bruce. He hadn’t moved, but even as she watched he jumped from where he had been crouching and silently knocked out one of the men. She watched as he began picking them off one by one. Selina had to admit she was impressed. Bruce had improved in the last ten years. It did not take long for the men to realise something was wrong, but by then most of their compatriots were out of commission. Selina was just about to turn away when the sound of gunfire pulled her attention back to the fight. One of the remaining goons had gotten a few shots off, and Bruce had fallen to one knee. He got up, but from where she was sitting Selina could see more men rushing out from one of the warehouses. Her language got even more colorful as she dropped off the roof, and wadded into the fray. </p><p>***</p><p>   Bruce spun as the man in front of him had his gun ripped away. Selina was standing behind him with her whip in hand. She pointed her head to one of the buildings down the dock where a group of men were running toward them. Bruce gestured at the women cowering in the shipping container. </p><p>   “Get them out of here. I’ll hold off this group.” Selina gave a quick nod, and stepped into the container. Once he saw that she and the women were on their way Bruce melted back into the shadows and began moving towards the new combatants. It took only a few moments for him to neutralize them, and a few more to tie them up with their fellows. The GCPD received an anonymous tip, and Bruce followed Selina and the women into the city. He tracked them to the police department where Selina was stepping out of the large doors, and felt her notice him. She met him on the roof across the street. He turned to face her. “They’re alright?” Selina shot him a disdainful look. “They’re being helped?”</p><p>   “Yeah, I gave ‘em to Bullock.” Bruce nodded. </p><p>   “I can’t say that I expected to see you there tonight.” Bruce kept his eyes on her face, evaluating her expression. </p><p>   “It looked like you needed the help.” Selina shot him a side eye, and Bruce could have cried at the teasing tone that had slipped in with her words. “Don’t expect it to happen again ‘Batman’.” The teasing has turned more mocking, but her eyes still held no malice. He turned back to look at the police building, and heard Selina begin to walk away. “See you around Bruce.” Her voice was faint, but Bruce smiled slightly to himself.</p><p>   “Be good Selina.” He could have sworn he heard her snort, but by the time he’d turned around she was gone. There was nothing but swirling soot to betray her passing. </p><p>***</p><p>   Selina reeled slightly as a batarang thudded into the man in front of her. She did not pause to acknowledge the throw, but kept moving among the adversaries in tandem with Bruce. The fight resolved itself quickly, as it most often did, and Selina gave a nod to Bruce before ascending to the rooftops once again. It had become a habit, working with him. Gotham was a big city, but they often shared the same haunts, and, though she scoffed at the methods, it felt good to work with Bruce. She rarely knew what the mission was, but she trusted Bruce enough to know it was a good cause. It was her way of giving back, and keeping her skills honed. They rarely talked, before or after, but while fighting they quickly fell back into old patterns, seamlessly moving together. She always left before Bruce could offer her a ride home, or engage her in conversation. She might trust him to watch her back in a fight, but she did not trust him not to leave again. She swore to herself she wouldn’t let herself get close, and the anger still bubbled up sometimes when she remembered those first years after he had flown away. It was getting harder though, not to be his friend. Bruce had not changed. It astounded her how similar he was to the boy she’d befriended all those years ago. Selina wasn’t sure if she’d changed. If she had, she wasn’t sure it was for the better. </p><p>***</p><p>   After Selina had aided him on a couple of his missions Bruce had reached out. There was a raid he was planning, and he needed her cat burglary skills. She had come, but Bruce had regretted it. It felt like he owed her somehow. The partnership lacked the easiness of their youth, when either would have followed the other to the ends of the earth. He’d made up the debt by posting her bail when she snatched the wrong person’s wallet one night. He hadn’t bothered to offer her money. She would have refused. Even now that they were even Bruce didn’t reach out again. Selina still joined him sometimes, but always on her own terms.</p><p>   He buried himself in his work to try to ignore the guilt that had begun to override the feeling of righteousness that had ushered him onto the plane. He did not regret it. He could not regret those ten years of life lived, but he was back now. He was home, and home was Selina too. It would take time, Bruce knew, to win back that trust, but time moved strangely in Gotham. There would be days that stretched like weeks, and weeks that passed in seconds. Those moments of combat were timeless. He and Selina back to back. It was a memory repeated a thousand times. One of those instances where he was himself in the past, present, and future, standing beside her, ready to face whatever was coming. Then the moment would pass, the fight would continue, and she would vanish as quickly as the memory.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   It was a rare sunny day in Gotham. The clouds were white and soft like some small child's drawing, and the breeze was warm if not necessarily fresh. The manor’s grounds were bright with spring flowers and new leaves. Bruce was sitting at a table in the garden sifting through a stack of files. Alfred had ushered him outside, but was not able to pry the papers from his hands. There was work to be done. There was so much work to be done. Bruce couldn’t say he was surprised by the amount of villainy and corruption there was in Gotham. Every new revelation was just another pin on the board. He had never really been deceived by the city, but he’d seen its more beautiful sides and would continue fighting for them. Always fighting. The pages began to blur in front of his eyes. Bruce tilted his head back and allowed the elusive sun to warm his face. </p><p>   “Lazy bones, you’re as bad as my cats.” Bruce’s eyes shot open. Selina was sitting on the table across from him, the fighting leather he usually saw her in replaced with an only-slightly-less-black shirt and pants. He narrowed his eyes at her, but couldn’t help the small smile he gave as he gestured to the papers in front of him. </p><p>   “I was working, and then I was just resting my eyes.” His voice had taken on a jokingly defensive tone. </p><p>   “Sure, sure, I’ve heard that one before.” Selina stopped, and the wrongness of the moment sunk in. It had felt for a second like old times, but Selina was on edge, Bruce could see it. </p><p>   “What do you need Selina?” She opened her mouth, and he could see her pause. Sincerity won out over another teasing remark.</p><p>   “It’s my mom.” Bruce’s brows crept together, and Selina looked away. “She showed up again a week or so ago. Same old story, but without you this time so I thought…” Bruce nodded in understanding. “But then these guys came, wanting money. They beat her up real bad, and now she’s in the hospital…” Selina trailed off again and Bruce almost took her hand, but decided against it. </p><p>   “You need help with the bills, or the guys?” </p><p>***</p><p>   Selina slumped in relief. It wasn’t that she thought he wouldn’t help, but the ease with which he’d accepted her unspoken plea lessened the indignity of asking. It was as if it didn’t even occur to him not to help her. </p><p>   “The bills, I already dealt with the guys.” Bruce nodded and stood. </p><p>   “Which hospital? I can have Alfred call and wire them the money.” He gathered his papers, some investigation she assumed, and inclined his head towards the house. “Come in. Have some tea. I think Alfred made cookies.” Selina wavered, warring with herself. </p><p>   “No can do, I’ve got business in the city.” Bruce gave her a piercing look, but said nothing so Selina simply turned and slipped away. She made it back to the city eventually, it would have been faster if she’d borrowed a car, and more comfortable. He’d have given her one, if she’d asked, but everything she asked of him felt like one more step towards forgiveness. Selina was not ready to forgive. </p><p>   The hospital was crowded. They always were in Gotham. Maria was asleep when Selina stepped through the curtain around her bed. She looked older like this, without the unapologetic vigour that filled her when she was awake. Selina pulled out the chair beside her mother’s bed and kicked her feet up on the blankets. A month ago she would have left the woman to rot, but Maria had come back. She had made an effort and it had felt so good. Too good to be true. Selina should have known. Maybe her mom wasn't intentionally using her, but Selina didn’t know if she could handle much more of this. At least when Bruce had left her he’d done it for a reason, for her. <em>She’s not gone. No, but someday… You can’t live like that</em>. And it was Bruce’s voice in her mind. She shook her head and pulled her feet off the bed. </p><p>   “Selina?” Maria’s voice was dry, and Selina could hear the pain laced in the word. </p><p>   “Yeah it’s me Mom. How’re you feeling?” Maria stretched her head back and winced. </p><p>   “Like I got beat half to death by a bunch of gangsters.” Her smile turned into another wince. “You got anything to drink?” Selina passed her a glass. Maria took a sip and frowned in disappointment. “That’s not what I meant.” </p><p>   “I know.” They sat in silence for a few moments. </p><p>   “I’m sorry Baby. I’m sorry I put you through this.” Selina looked away. The silence stretched again, and it was full of pain. So many years lost. They weren’t even real family anymore. They could be, Selina knew, but it wasn’t as easy as all that. This woman had left her, had used her. Sometimes it hurt even to look at her, and a few weeks of lunches out weren’t going to fix that. <em>But it could, you have to try, you’d regret it if you didn’t.</em> Selina sighed, and looked back at the woman on the bed. She was asleep again, and Selina would have joined her had one of the nurses not come up to her.</p><p>   “Ms. Kyle?” Selina looked up. “I just wanted to make you aware that your mother’s care has been paid for in full, and that she will be able to leave within the next few days.” Selina nodded and stood. There was no point getting a crick in her back sleeping in a hospital chair if she could go home to a bed. Outside, the sunny morning had faded into a misty afternoon, and the walk to her apartment was a damp one. </p><p>***</p><p>The rain whipped at the windows with all the fury of a grieving angel but the sound inside the manor’s kitchen was muffled into a relaxing melody. This, contrasted by the sharp bursts of lightning slicing across the sky, made the warm room feel even cozier. Bruce and Alfred sat together at the table with a blueprint spread out between them and cocoa holding down the corners of the paper. Their conversation was stopped mid sentence as Selina staggered into the room, dripping water all over the tiled floor. Bruce shot up, and Alfred rushed out to get a towel and dry clothes. </p><p>   “What happened? Are you alright?” As Bruce spoke he handed her his cup of cocoa which she took with grateful, shivering, fingers. Alfred came back in with a soft towel and some of Mrs. Wayne’s old pajamas. Bruce’s questions were set aside in favor of drying off the drenched woman. Once Selina was settled on a chair in the kitchen, dry, and wrapped in a warm blanket, she spoke.</p><p>   “My apartment was getting chilly, what with this hellscape of a storm, so I thought I’d come here. It’s always warm here.” She glared out at them from under the blanket, and Alfred scoffed. </p><p>   “Right. You walked from Gotham to the manor in the pouring rain because you were cold.” Disbelief oozed from his tone. Bruce gave him a sharp look.</p><p>   “Alfred would you make up Selina’s room please? I doubt she’ll be going back to Gotham tonight.” Alfred stiffened at the obvious dismissal, and shot Bruce and Selina a sharp look before he left the room in a dignified huff. Once he’d left Bruce turned to Selina. </p><p>   “Why are you here Selina? I know it’s not that you were cold.” His voice was soft, and gently prying. Selina looked at him and her eyes were filled with a strange mix of raging fury and heartbreak. Bruce was shaken with a wave of bitterness as he thought he began to see what had occurred. He did not speak though, and allowed Selina to gather herself.</p><p>   “She left.” Bruce worked to keep his face soft, but inside he was seething. “I came to check on her at the hospital and they told me she’d checked herself out. She left me a note.” Bruce winced inwardly as he took the thoroughly soaked card from her hand. He read it, and cursed himself and every one of those ten godforsaken years. He didn’t say anything. What could he say? I’m sorry your mother left to protect you. I’m sorry she broke your heart. I’m sorry she left you a note empty of meaning and asked you to forgive her. I’m sorry she did exactly what she’d done when you were young. I’m sorry she did exactly what I did. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry. No, no he couldn’t, so he stayed silent. </p><p>   The moment stretched, but Selina was shivering. It looked as if she were about to fall out of her chair. It would do nothing for the situation for her to get sick so Bruce picked her up, blanket and all, and carried her upstairs. Alfred had prepared her room. The room that had been hers when she first came to the manor, and that had remained hers after it was rebuilt. There was a fire in the fireplace, and the blankets were rolled back so Bruce carefully unwrapped Selina from her slightly damp blanket and laid her under the covers. </p><p>   “Bruce.” Selina’s voice was muffled by the comforter, her eyes drooping with exhaustion, but she gripped his hand tightly on the bed. “I forgive you.” Her hand slipped from his as she faded into sleep but Bruce didn’t move, not for a long time. He sat, looking at this miracle of a woman, wet hair tangled on a quickly dampening pillow, and marveled. </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   The night wrapped city flashed past the windows of the car, the lights briefly illuminating Selina’s sleeping face before they were thrust back into relative darkness. Bruce looked over at her occasionally, his mask and hers crumpled together on the console. Before long the lights of the city had faded into the darkness and the car's headlights were all that illuminated the road. The door to the secret garage was open when Bruce drove in, and Alfred was waiting for them in the cavernous space. </p><p>   “Selina, we’re back.” Bruce watched as Selina cracked her eyes open, and stretched in her seat. She always seemed to drift off on their way back from missions. The smooth silence of the car soothed her into some deep slumber. The drive wasn’t long, but that never seemed to bother her. </p><p>   She might still only join him when it suited her, but now, after the fight, she came back to the manor to drink tea, patch up, and wind down. They both stepped out of the car, Alfred gave them a once over for injuries, Bruce and Selina changed into their civilian clothes, and they made their way upstairs where Alfred had prepared a small meal. The three of them sat together discussing the mission, and other, less weighty topics. It seemed like a lifetime passed in that room, lit with a soft glow, as the three of them rebuilt a family they had begun in different times. Another thousand lifetimes passed over another thousand missions. Brief, fleeting battles, followed by infinite conversations. The foundations were already there, forged in that alley and the years following, but the home was built in that room. Neither Selina nor Bruce had become less of a loner in their ten years apart, but they had always made an exception for each other, and Alfred was Alfred- irreplaceable. Everyone needs a family, and after forgiveness had come they worked to build one that would never again fall apart. </p><p>   Bruce still couldn’t believe Selina had forgiven him. When she’d woken up they’d talked about it. They had lounged in the once again sunny garden. </p><p> <em>  “Selina?” “Yeah?” “When you were falling asleep you said you forgave me…” “Yeah?” “Did you mean it?” Selina shot him a look. “Yeah Bruce, I meant it.” She looked at him again and sighed before dropping her eyes to her clenched hands. “I was sitting in that hospital, before she left, looking at this woman who was my mother, and realised that the thought of loving her, of getting close to her, of being her family, it exhausted me. All I could think was that it couldn’t be worth it, that she would likely just leave again, or die, or something, and break my heart all over again, and that it wasn’t worth it. Then it was your stupid voice in my head, telling me that I’d regret it if I didn’t try, that it was worth a shot, and I listened, because I wanted a family, I wanted to love her.” A deep breath came, as Selina gathered herself to continue. “Then she left. ‘To protect me’ she said, like you did, and there was my heart, broken on the ground again, and I realised I was too tired to pick it up and put it back together. So, I came to you, and Alfred, because I knew you would pick it up for me.” Selina looked up at him again, and Bruce held his breath, not wanting to break the moment of rare sincerity. This speech, it was not Selina, but they both needed to hear it outloud. “There has never been a time in my life, not since I was very very young, when I considered my mom a viable option for help. She was gone, and that was that, and I would not trust her to help me even if I could get a hold of her. You though, I thought about reaching out to you for help, or just to have someone. I never did, I was too angry, but I knew, even if I didn’t want to admit it, that you would come if I called, without hesitation.” She did not look to him for confirmation, they both knew it was true. “In that moment, as I was staring at my heart on the ground, I realised that you were more my family than she ever was, that even in those years apart, I might have hated you, but I still knew if push came to shove you would do anything for me and I would do anything for you. I never had that with Maria, she was just a woman who I had loved briefly when I was too young to have any other choice. So I came to you, and you picked me up, you picked up my heart, and you began putting me back together, like it was all that mattered. How could I not forgive you? How could I not fight for that family I so desperately wanted? How could I not fight for it when I knew you would fight beside me, even if you didn’t yet know what you were fighting for?” She stopped, and they sat in the sun, letting the tears evaporate off their cheeks.</em></p><p>   They hadn’t talked like that since then, it wasn’t Selina’s way, and what was important had already been spoken, but it repaired the cracks in the foundations. When they talked now, after a mission, on days off, whenever there was time spent together, it was with only the light antagonism of friends. Those ten years still hung between them, life neither of them wanted to, or could, give up, but now it was not a barrier. It was a part of their stories to tell each other, part of their lives, and their lives had made them family. </p><p>***</p><p>    Selina swept her eyes around the ballroom, picking out marks and targets. Bruce caught her looking, and leaned his head down to her ear. </p><p>    “Please don’t get caught, it would not help my public appearance if my date were to be revealed as a thief.” Selina just winked at him and looped her arm through his. They stepped together further into the room, and Selina watched a mask fall over Bruce’s face. A charming, if slightly vapid, playboy smile, and a relaxed jovial posture. It was disconcerting, the opposite of the Bruce she knew. She shook herself, they had a mission tonight, more than thievery, or mingling, and she needed to focus. Bruce led her around the room as he made small talk with the rich and influential of Gotham. Selina stood demurely by his side, sometimes adding a witty comment or a flirtatious giggle. It almost made her laugh, the absurdity of it all, but Bruce’s unfaltering persona reminded her how important it was not to break, not to reveal his secret or their purpose here. After a while she patted his shoulder.</p><p>    “I’m going to get a drink, would you like anything?” Bruce loosened his arm, and waved her away. Selina slipped into the crowd. She moved among the highrollers keeping an eye out for their mission tonight. She’d been inside the Mayne manor’s ballroom before, she’d been in every room of the house in her childhood explorations, but she’d never seen it lit up and full of guests. It was like a fairy tale, or an old movie, but the whole event was tainted by the stink of corruption that hovered around so many of the guests. She stood at the bar, watching the dancers, and searching the faces when Bruce came up behind her. </p><p>    “Selina my dear! A dance?” His hand appeared by her side and she took it with no small amount of consternation. They began waltzing, spinning among the couples on the floor, and Selina laughed aloud. </p><p>    “You’ve improved significantly since our first dance.”</p><p>    “Well I’ve had good reason to practice, how else can I impress beautiful women such as yourself?” His empty words were accompanied by a flirtatious wink, and Selina would have been hurt had his eyes not softened a little, and the pressure of his hand on her waist increased just slightly. She gave an appreciative laugh, but it didn’t matter. He had let her behind the mask, and now instead of Bruce being veiled it was the rest of the room, all the swirling couples paled a little as she was pulled behind his curtain. </p><p>   Together they danced, Bruce leading her expertly through the room until they had come up beside a whispered conversation between a man and woman who Selina suddenly recognised as their marks. She and Bruce exchanged a look before he smoothly inserted himself into the couple’s conversation. As they talked Selina slipped the man’s keys from his pocket, and in an operation that felt eerily familiar, took their imprint. When it was done she sided up to Bruce, his arm wrapped around her waist, and just as effortly as he had entered it, he exited the conversation. They strolled around the edge of the room, making banal conversation, until the party ended. As the guests began filtering out to the expensive cars pulled up by suited chauffeurs Bruce and Selina sat barefoot on the deck, looking out at the city.  </p><p>   “When’d you get so good at dancing?” Selina lay back on the stone and stared up at the dark sky. </p><p>   “I was in Russia,” Selina listened as the story continued. It was full of beautiful women, beautiful places, and a fair amount of violence. She let Bruce’s voice take her to a far away world where the horrible and the splendid overlapped in ways that were familiar and yet foreign. The story came to an end with a heavily applauded foxtrot and the shocking arrest of Bruce’s partner. When Bruce stopped talking Selina pushed herself up on her elbows and looked at him with squinted eyes. </p><p>   “There’s no way that happened.” Bruce turned to her, confusion evident on his face, and Selina shook her head.</p><p>   “What do you mean?” Selina just laughed. </p><p>   “You are marvel Bruce Wayne. Only you could tell a story that beautifly, absurdly, improbable, and be speaking nothing but the truth.” Bruce gave a rather sheepish smile, but had a flash in his eyes as he retaliated. </p><p>   “Where did you learn to dance. You kept up too well to not have had some sort of lessons.” Selina smiled mysteriously.</p><p>   “A story for another time, but for now, show me the foxtrot.” The two of them stood, Selina dusted off her dress, and they returned to the ballroom. The space was dark now, and silent, but she and Bruce flew across the dance floor. Her bare feet burned against the smooth wood, but she barely noticed as they floated through the room. When they stopped she was breathless and laughing, and Bruce looked even more sheepish. Breathing heavily, and panting, Selina managed to wheeze out a few words. “I’m starved, let’s go raid the kitchen.” She grabbed Bruce’s hand and pulled him through the halls. By the time they reached the kitchen they were both gasping, and laughing like children. They both stopped suddenly, and it sunk in that Selina couldn’t remember the last time she laughed like that, she couldn’t remember the last time Bruce had laughed like that. The moment turned quickly from solemn to gleeful again as Alfred walked in with a disapproving frown on his face. Before he could say anything they both began laughing again, uncontrollably. Alfred simply turned, and left the room.</p><p>***</p><p>   Alfred stood, his back to the wall in the dark halfway outside the kitchen, and felt tears fall down his face. He could hear Bruce and Selina giggling. Giggling! He didn’t know the last time he’d seen Master Bruce crack a true smile, much less giggle like he hadn't even when he was a boy. Alfred stood for a few moments more, listening to the two of them raid the pantry. It was likely that tomorrow whatever glee had overtaken them would wear off, and they would both become world heavy once again, but for now they could make up for some of that childhood they missed</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   The manor was dark, and quiet, except for the moonlight coming in the windows, and the distant whistle of the wind through the trees outside. It was empty except for the three sleeping forms, each to their own room, spread across the building. Selina lay in her bed, tossing slightly in her sleep, bandages wrapped around her midriff. She’d been burned with some kind of acid on their latest mission, and had stayed the night at the manor so Alfred could check the burn again in the morning. It had taken her hours to fall asleep, the painkillers Alfred had given here were not enough to fully dull the flaring pain on her side, and the bed was too soft. She had finally drifted off, only to find herself lost in fitful dreams. Dreams which soon transformed into a full blown nightmare, and Selina began to writhe slightly on the silk sheets. Her breaths came heavy and fast as she curled in on herself. </p><p>***</p><p>   Bruce stood at his window and looked out at the darkened grounds outside. He hadn’t been able to fall asleep, it happened sometimes, and he would work, or just wander the halls of the manor. He would pass Selina sometimes, two phantoms moving silently down the carpeted halls, but they never spoke. It would have seemed sacreligious to break the peace that came during those hours. Turning away from the window Bruce left his room. He turned on no lights, he didn’t need any to navigate the manor, and was certainly not afraid of the dark. The days of fearing the monsters in the shadows were long past him. Familiar paths led him through the house, going nowhere in particular, when he heard broken whimpering coming from the guest wing. The volume was increasing steadily, and Bruce hurried his steps toward her door. Both he and Selina had more than their fair share of nightmares. When they’d lived together after Bruce found the man who shot his parents they’d both woken each other up with screams in the night, and they’d both found more to fuel those screams since then. It would have felt wrong to leave her alone, to turn away and pretend he hadn’t heard, so Bruce stepped into her room. </p><p>***</p><p>   Selina woke suddenly as she felt the bed shift. Her eyes flew open, the remnants of the nightmare dancing devilishly around the edges of her vision, to see Bruce sitting on the edge of her bed. When he saw that she was awake he reached toward her, slowly and cautiously, and pulled her into his lap. He settled them against the headboard, and wrapped his arms around her. They were not so tight that she couldn't escape if she needed too, but snug enough that they gave comfort. Bruce lightly stroked her arms and face, and whispered soft reassurances in her ear. Selina felt herself begin to fall apart. It wasn’t the nightmare, that was a common enough occurrence, it was the safety she felt in that moment. The complete and utter conviction of her soul that if she took this moment to crumble, the man holding her would put her back together as he’d done so many times before. So she sobbed into his shirt, letting the tears come in a torrent as he ran his fingers through her mussed curls. Eventually she fell asleep, thoroughly drained, and drifted into a dreamless slumber. </p><p>   When she awoke Bruce was still holding her, his eyes open, but unseeing, as if they were staring inside himself. She looked up at him, and as she shifted he looked down at her. His eyes were soft, and traced her features as if to check she was alright. He didn’t say anything, just pulled her a little closer, and ran his knuckles along her chin. They sat there, looking at each other, for a while. Selina pulled the last wayward specs of her fractured self back to her, and Bruce provided the safety for her to do so. After a short little eternity Selina felt herself come together, and she let out a soft sigh.</p><p>   “You’re alright now.” It was a question and statement all at once, and Selina nodded. Bruce carefully unwrapped his arms from around her, and lifted her off his lap. Standing from the bed he looked down at her with once again solemn eyes. Before he could say anything Selina pushed herself up on her knees and clasped him in a crushing hug. He stood stiffly in the circle of her arms before relaxing into her grasp. They stood there for a while, and the memory struck her all at once, like a kick to the chest, or hitting the ground after a long fall. </p><p>
  <em>   Bruce sat with his arms around Selina as she shook with tears, pain, and the remnants of terror. He doubted she could hear him, but he spoke anyway. “When I was young, very young, before you knew me I would have nightmares. They were childish, you would laugh, but I would run to my parent’s room and curl up between them. I would wake up in the morning and they would ask me if I wanted to talk about it. I rarely did.” He paused. “After they died I had nightmares all the time. I would wake up screaming, like I did when I lived with you, and Alfred would come and comfort me. I stopped screaming eventually. I wasn’t embarrassed necessarily, but I felt bad waking Alfred up all the time.” He looked down to see that Selina had calmed, and fallen asleep. </em>
</p><p>   Selina wasn’t sure how she could remember this, but there it was, in her mind, sharp and crystal clear, like a gift from a god she didn’t believe in.</p><p><em>   Bruce gave Selina a gentle smile, and continued to talk. “I still have nightmares, like you. They’re about all sorts of things, you could guess many of them I’m sure. You come up often, I wake up with your name caught in my throat. It’s better when you’re here. I’ll come and stand outside your door, just for a moment, to make sure you’re still there, still breathing.” He stopped and stroked her hair. “You’d laugh at me for that as well I’m sure.” Bruce sat in silence for a moment, watching her sleep, and gathering courage. “You know I’ll be here for you, whenever you need me? I made you a promise before you forgave me, that even if you hated me for the rest of our lives, I would be there for you.” Selina stirred a little, and Bruce pulled the blanket up over her legs. “It wasn’t just because I felt guilty for leaving, although I did, and still do sometimes, it was because you were my friend. You are my friend. I wrote you letters, I wonder sometimes if you got them, if you read them, if you burned them.” He looked around the room, and then back down at her. “Jeremiah thought that the man in the alley, the one who shot my parents, was who I saw when I closed my eyes, but he was wrong. It might have been driven by hatred in the beginning, but after I confronted him, after he killed himself…” Bruce smoothed the curls off her forehead. “That man in the alley didn’t make me who I am, the Court of Owls didn’t make me who I am, they may have played a part, started me on the path, but it’s you and Alfred who I see. The people who I love.” He stopped suddenly, and his eyes bored into Selina’s sleeping form. “I love you.” The words were spoken quietly, as if they were a secret he’d been keeping close to his heart. Which, in a way, they were. “You were my friend, my only friend for a long time. You were my first kiss, my first love, my first girlfriend. I loved you then, and you loved me too. We were so young though, so busy, so different. We may have grown up fast, but we were still kids.” He stopped again, and frowned a little. “We were family, I loved you like family. I might have been starting to truly love you, in the ways poetry is written about, but I didn’t yet. That’s why I could leave.” Bruce looked at her, checking if she was awake, if she was alright. “I’ve loved people since then, it was like poetry, and it was like war. Some of them I’ve told you about, some of them I haven’t, and some of them I never will. It was like war and poetry with them, but it was never like home. You are home to me Selina, you are war, and poetry, and home, and I love you. I don’t know if you can hear me, I doubt you can, but I wouldn’t mind if you did. You will wake up in a little while, and you will either have heard me, or I will tell it all to you again, because I love you and you love me too</em>. </p><p>   “Bruce.” She pulled back, and looked at him. Her eyes were serious, and Bruce frowned. “I heard you.” His face cleared, and Selina smiled internally at his confidence. He was right of course, he’d not been called ‘the world’s greatest detective’ for nothing. She still teased him for that particular headline sometimes. “How did you know?” He smiled a little. </p><p>   “I knew because you told me, in your own way, a hundred times. I knew because every one of your flirtatious comments was serious, under the surface. I knew because you find ways to touch me all the time.” Selina almost stopped him, warned him to get to the point, but she didn’t have it in her heart. Everyone loves a romantic speech, and really, they were Bruce’s specialty. “I knew because when I’m around you let your guard down, you trust me. I knew because when you told me you forgave me, when you explained how you could, you did it with words. You knew that was my way, that I would understand, and you needed me to understand. More than any of that, I knew because when you looked at me, when you look at me, it is in the same way as I look at you.” Selina didn’t cry, she’d shed her tears last night, but her throat was choked as she replied. </p><p>   “You knew something else too. I did know before you. I knew you loved me the second you got back, or that you were going to. I’ve always had you wrapped around my finger.” Bruce quirkes his lips at the memory. “I knew I loved <em>you</em> when we danced in a dark, silent room, and it still managed to be my brightest memory.” Bruce laughed, and leaned down with the careful intent that marked all his kisses. Selina stretched up to meet him, ignoring the pain on her side, and it was like coming home. </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>    Selina slipped through the tiny alley, listening for shouts or sirens behind her. There was nothing though, just the usual sounds of the city, and her own heavy breaths. She stepped out of the alley and climbed a fire escape to the roof of the nearest building. Crouching at the edge of the roof, looking out over the city, she let herself relax. At that moment she felt him drop down behind her. Selina surged to her feet and spun angrily. </p><p>    “What the hell Bruce!” She practically shouted as Bruce came up to stand beside her. “I was almost arrested!” He spoke with infuriating calm.</p><p>    “Well you were robbing a museum, and you broke the guard’s leg right in front of me. I couldn’t just let you be.” Selina shot him a look that said, very clearly, that he definitely could've done just that.</p><p>    “I only broke his leg so he wouldn’t shoot me. What were you doing there anyway?” </p><p>    “He wouldn’t have been trying to shoot you if you weren’t trying to rob the museum. That’s his job. I was there because it was on my way home and I heard gunshots. I should’ve known it was you.” His voice was only mildly accusatory, and Selina seethed a little more at his calm. She knew it was on her though. She’d been sloppy. “Did you get the piece?” He asked with false innocence. He’d taken it from her the second he got close enough to see her curls peeking out from under the mask. She glared at him, eyes filled with disdain, but he just grinned a little. Selina made her way back to the fire escape, each step infused with as much righteous fury as she could muster. “You should come over for dinner. Alfred’s making your favorite.” She flipped him off as she leapt down from the roof, and could feel him smiling even as she swung down the building.</p><p>    Selina showed up at the manor for dinner. She was pissed sure, but it really wasn't Bruce’s fault and she wasn't about to miss Alfred’s cooking. The library was chilly when she slipped in the window, but the kitchen maintained its characteristically cozy warmth. Bruce was setting the table, for three, Selina noted, and Alfred was pulling a cake out of the oven.</p><p>    “Look who decided to join us.” Alfred’s tone was teasing, but there was no malevolence in his expression. Bruce frowned at his butler, and pulled her chair out for her as they sat down to eat. It was a domestic scene, one that had been becoming increasingly common of late. Selina ate at the manor practically every night, and slept there often as well. Her own apartment was cold in comparison, it was empty of the love that filled Bruce’s home, and at this point she only went back for her strays. After the meal Bruce and Selina retreated into the ballroom. The huge space muffled and amplified their movements all at once, and their steps seemed to fade into the shadows. Bruce pulled Selina into a waltz, basic steps laid out with perfect precision. </p><p>    “You don’t need to steal.” His voice was low, meant only for her. His arms held her close, and his words were accompanied by warm breaths on her cheek. It felt nice, it felt right, but she still pulled back sharply and looked at him with incredulity. </p><p>    “What do you want me to do, just live off your generosity?” Bruce opened his mouth, but Selina didn’t let him speak. “I didn’t go to high school. I have no marketable skills, other than criminal ones, and I like stealing. I’m good at it” Her last point was said quite defensively. “You want me to come live with you, cook and clean, and look pretty. Be some housewife!” Her voice was heated, and she didn’t even know why. Bruce didn’t have to say that that wasn’t what he meant. Selina knew she was putting words in his mouth, but the words came anyway. “You’re so rich Bruce. You have obscene amounts of money, and what do you do with it? You run around at night beating up bad guys. You could buy this whole city, tear it down, and build a perfect new one in its place.” Bruce looked like he was about to speak again, but Selina just kept going. “You shouldn’t, and you won't, but you could still make a real difference. A lasting difference, and instead you just run on a never ending quest against every bad thing that ever happened.” Her tone softened a little bit, but was no less insistent as she continued. “For every bad guy you take down another will spring up, you're not fixing the problems that make people turn to crime you’re just punishing them for choices the world pushed on them. I’m not saying that every gangbanger out there is some misguided angel, but everyone has a reason for doing what they're doing. You have all the money in the world Bruce. You could take away some of those reasons.” Her point had shifted as she went, but she could see it landed all the same. </p><p>    “Those aren’t your only skills Selina.” That was not the resonance she had expected, nor the takeaway she’d wanted. He took advantage of her surprise at his words, and restarted the dance her rant had interrupted. She expected him to continue with whatever point he’d been about to make, but he didn’t. He simply spun her around the room, his steps not faltering even as he drifted off into his own mind. Selina was beginning to get angry again. She still wasn’t fully sure why. Maybe it was the calm he’d maintained, as if none of her words landed, or perhaps it was that he could so easily buy her entire life. With a snap of his fingers and a few phone calls he could take everything from her. He wouldn’t, she knew that, but he didn’t seem to realise the position that put them in. The imbalance of power had never been a problem. He’d been rich, and she’d had him wrapped around her pinky finger. Selina hated to admit it, but now they were equally wrapped up in each other. She didn’t know if they were both manipulating one another, or if neither of them were doing any manipulation at all, but the fact still remained that she was falling. Selina had walked into love with Bruce with both eyes open, but that didn’t mean they both weren’t falling, and she didn’t have his money to catch her when she hit the ground. </p><p>    It felt so good to be in love with him. Their relationship was unconventional, and rather undefined, but it filled her life with warmth she’d never really felt before. That love, that felt like poetry Selina had never read, was addicting. Selina knew Bruce loved her, but she’d also spent ten years trying to rebuild herself, her city, and her world with a minimum of resources and the knowledge that she had no other choice but to do what she was doing. She could not fly away on a private jet for a soul searching journey across the world. While she no longer hated Bruce for his choices, and could not resent him for the life he’d lived, it drove home the point in her mind that he was free and she was not. </p><p>    At that thought it seemed to her, all at once, that she’d looked down and there was no ground under her. It was like a cartoon, like she’d walked a couple steps off a cliff but hadn’t yet looked down, and as soon as she did she was falling. This wasn’t love that she was falling into, not now, this was a lifetime of experience. This was a rabbit hole of life reminding her that she could depend on no one but herself, that everyone would leave her. It told her, through her own memories, that once you started to lean on someone they would step away, and you would fall. You can only hit the ground so many times, and in so many ways, before you don’t get back up again. </p><p>    Her steps, which had been perfectly in time to Bruce’s lead, stumbled. His hands supported her, but the faces on the walls of the pit reminded her the further she leaned the harder she’d fall, so she pushed away. Selina missed Bruce’s look of confusion as her usually graceful feet stumbled their way out of the room, and into the night. </p><p>***</p><p>    Bruce followed Selina to the door of the ballroom that led to the darkened garden outside but did not follow her into the night. Something had come to her, as they had been dancing together but lost in their separate thoughts, and whatever it was had scared her. Bruce looked after her, his eyes well adjusted to the darkness, but she was gone. He debated, for a long moment, going after her, but if she had wanted his support she would have asked for it. Worry still gnawed at him though. Her points tonight had all been valid, and even in the short time after she’d made them he’d had some new ideas for ways to help, but those previous musings were now overwhelmed by concern. He resolved to ask her tomorrow, to find what was bothering her, what had scared her like that, and set her fears to rest. </p><p>    The next morning, when he’d found her apartament empty, he hadn’t worried, but after more than a week without seeing Selina terror began to claw its way out of the shadows of his nightmares. </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>    Selina slipped through the streets. They were strange to her, the same feel as her neighborhood, but different buildings, different people. She stepped into the abandoned theater she’d claimed as her new home. It wasn’t permanent, she wasn’t running, she just needed some time to hit the ground and get back up. She needed to remember that she was free, she didn’t need Bruce, she <em>chose</em> to love him and he her. The theater was dark, cool, and lonely, but felt familiar. It was somewhere she’d lived many times over her life, if not this building specifically, then a hundred like it. The chill of a building without heat, or windows, was grounding. The opposite of the manor, that home that was not hers, no matter how much it felt as if it were sometimes. </p><p>***</p><p>    The silk sheets tangled around Bruce’s legs as he twisted in bed. After a few moments of strained movements he shot up, breathing heavily. His legs slid out from under the blankets, and his elbows leaned painfully on his knees. The nightmare faded slightly, and his breathing calmed, but the fact remained that Selina was gone. Selina was gone, and he did not know where or why. It had been weeks, and sleep had become little more than a distant memory. It wasn’t just the possibility that she was in danger, although the thought terrified him, Selina had become a cornerstone of his life. She kept him grounded, reminded him he was not just a symbol, reminded him he was human, and worth more than his money or persona. Outside the walls of his room the city lights taunted him. You should save her. <em>You should save everyone. She left for a reason, and you should know why.</em> He leaned his forehead against the cool window and sighed, his breath skittering condensation across the glass. </p><p>***</p><p>    Bruce stood at the podium for the unveiling of the community center in the narrows. He didn’t know what he said. The words marched out of his mouth with fanfare that faded quickly and without leaving much impression. Applause sounded through the room, and Bruce stepped away from the microphone. He made his way blindly through the crowd. Bruce Wayne, billionaire philanthropist, spoke, and smiled, and flirted, but none of it made it past the sheen of exhaustion coating his body. When the night ended Alfred drove him back to the manor, the city lights blurring into a blinding wash in Bruce’s periphery, and his eyes aching against the night air. His fist clenched in his pocket, the well crumpled paper there no longer rustling with the action. It was from Selina a few days ago.</p><p>
  <em>    Dear Bruce, I’m fine, don't worry about me. I’m sorry I left like that, and if I scared you, but I needed some time for myself. My own soul searching mission if you will. I’ll be back soon enough. I love you, Selina</em>
</p><p>***</p><p>    When they arrived back at the manor. Bruce slid out of the car, his movements slow and heavy. Alfred looked on with concern as Bruce made his way, with overly aggressive steps, into the house. He’d been like this for a while, no more than a vehicle for his dual personas, working himself to the bone. Alfred knew it had something to do with Selina’s disappearance, but there was something else too, something weighing on Bruce that the young man wouldn’t share with Alfred. Quick worried steps followed harsh lumbering ones into the house, and Alfred was relieved to see Bruce head to his bedroom. He was half afraid that he would have to force the younger man into bed and away from the night cloaked streets. The door to Bruce’s room snipped closed, and Alfred settled himself in the library to get some work done. He’d been doing as much as he could without Bruce noticing, to take some of whatever weight was on the boy’s shoulders off, but there was only so much he could do. He found himself wishing for Selina. He may have had his problems with the girl, but she had turned out to be good for Bruce.</p><p>***</p><p>    The window to the manor library was unlocked, and Selina snuck in, careful to shut the glass behind her. When she turned to face the room Alfred was staring at her, and Selina gave him a slightly guilty smile. He did not return it, and the exhaustion that lined his features shot a line of panic through Selina’s chest. </p><p>    “Where’s Bruce, is he alright?” Her voice was quiet, but seemed deafening in the previously silent room. She noticed as she spoke, not knowing if it were her imagination or not, that the room seemed colder, and she shivered slightly.</p><p>    “He’s asleep, for once, but he’ll be up soon enough.” Alfred did not elaborate, so Selina simply nodded, and moved down the hall. The manor was as she remembered, but it did seem just a little darker, and just a little emptier, than when she’d last been there. The door to Bruce’s room was closed, but she twisted the knob and stepped inside. Brue was in bed, his clothes tossed haphazardly around the room, and his body shivering with the tell tale signs of a nightmare. Selina did not pause to take in the rest of the room, she had been here before, instead she approached the bed carefully. He’d attacked her once, when she’d woken him up from a nightmare. He’d lashed out, and had her on the floor with his foot on her throat before she’d had time to shout. This time she did not shake him, she simply slipped out of her outer layers of leather and metal, and lay down beside him. Selina nudged under his arm, and curled herself into his chest. She felt his breathing stutter, and then after uncounted agonizing minutes, slow. He didn’t fade into sleep though. He woke with a start, as if peaceful sleep were something to fear, and if not for Selina’s much more conscious state she would have found herself on the floor once again. As it were, she caught his arm, and he recognised her quickly. </p><p>    “Selina, what are you doing here?” His voice was rough, as if he hadn’t used it in a while, and his eyes blinked at her slowly, as if he didn’t really believe what he was seeing. Selina pulled back a little bit, Bruce was not himself, and she was not sure why. </p><p>    “I came back. I said I would. I made sure you got my note.” His mind seemed to be slowly catching up to her words and presence. </p><p>    “Tell me what happened, why did you leave?” Bruce’s voice was strained, and as he asked he leaned back until he appeared to be asleep once more. He spoke with his eyes closed. “Don’t worry, I’m listening.” Selina wasn’t sure this was the best time to be having this conversation, Bruce seemed about ready to pass out, but a lackluster hand wave encouraged her to continue. She told him about the dancing, about the little fight they had that made her remember, the powerlessness that had come upon her, the vertigo. She told him about the memories that had sprung up, the experiences reminding her she needed to pull herself together. In front of him she laid out the conversation they should have had at the beginning of their relationship, a relationship that had come on so slowly and yet so fast that the basics had never really been discussed. Every worry about him, about them, about his work and hers, that had pushed her down the slippery slope into the pit was confessed to his inert form. When she finally finished, her heart bared once again to this familiar enigma, he grasped her hand and pulled her softly down beside him. “I heard you Selina, and I have a testimony of my own, but right now I am about to collapse.” Selina didn’t comment on the fact that he already had, but she did settle herself next to him. Bruce pulled her closer, tucking her into himself, and sleepily stroked her arm. “I missed you Selina.” The words were no more than a whisper, but they sent a warm glow though Selina’s body as she too, drifted off. </p><p>    The sun breaking through the windows pulled Selina from her first dreamless night in a long time. She turned slightly, within the confines of Bruce’s arms, and smiled at his familiar features. His eyes blinked open after she moved, sleep still heavy on his face, and he gave her a soft grin. They lay there for a time, enjoying the warmth of the sun on their faces, and the feeling of safety that permeated the room. After a few long moments Bruce shifted slightly, and cleared his throat. </p><p>    “I owe you a response.” He paused for a moment holding up a finger, and reached for the glass on his bedside table. After taking a drink and settling back down he began. “I love you Selina. I love you, and everything you said last night was legitimate. It was legitimate, and we were fools not to have talked about it earlier.” Selina huffed a laugh into his chest. “I have money, ridiculous amounts of it, and you don’t. Not only that but I grew up with it. We had very different childhoods, even when we spent them together.” He paused, and Selina silently urged him to continue. “That money may grant me freedom and power you do not have, but not over you, never over you.” He paused slightly. “I have a few ideas about how to get you some funds of your own. My girlfriend should be well set up, otherwise imagine what people would say!” Selina laughed at the use of ‘girlfriend’ and the teasing tone, but Bruce continued. “You have practically infinite power over me Selina, and I trust you with all of that and more. You trust me too, I know, but the possibility of my betrayal is a large enough threat that I cannot blame you for taking precautions. I can’t say I have the greatest track record there.” The guilt in his voice broke Selina’s heart. He continued. “I don’t know Selina, if you are still falling in love with me. I do not know if the prospect of someday hitting the ground scares you, but I will tell you this; I hit the ground years ago, I hit the ground and since then I’ve been digging.” Selina laughed a little, and she could feel him smile above her. “Perhaps you are still falling, and if so I will do my best to soften the crash, if there is one. Perhaps you already hit the ground, and simply didn’t notice, an easily forgivable offence. There is no instruction manual for love, no descriptions of the stages, and you love me perfectly as it is.” A blush spread across Selina’s cheeks, and another laugh bubbled in her chest. Bruce really did not mess around with heartfelt confessions. “I swear to you,” He tilted her head up, and looked straight into her eyes. The laugh faded in her throat, but was replaced by a growing warmth in her chest. “I swear to you that I will not let you fall. I will not let you hit the ground again. Do you hear me Selina? I love you. I will catch you, or hold you, or defy physics and God to keep you from hitting the ground.” Selina felt tears drip down her nose and cheeks, tears reflected on Bruce’s face, and he carefully wiped them all away. </p><p>    “I hear you Bruce, and I will always be there for you, whenever you need me.” She made the promise she always had, renewed time and time again. He smiled at her, love radiating from his eyes, and replied with touching sincerity she was not sure she deserved.</p><p>    “You always have been. I never doubted it for a moment.” They lay there longer, even after the sunbeam had drifted away from their faces and up onto the wall. They lay and caught up. Selina told him about the theater, about the heists she had run, and the words on the street. Bruce told her about the new enemy hiding in the shadows. The one he knew was coming, but not from where, or when. He told her of the whispers in the winds speaking of dark laughter and ill-begotten alliances. He did not need to tell her about the shell he’d become. She’d seen it before, could recognise the signs, and was simply glad he’d found his way back. After a while they lay silent. His fingers twisted lightly in Selina’s hair, and her hand tracing broad shapes on his chest. “I would marry you Selina.” She dropped her hand in shock, but he didn’t seem to notice her reaction.</p><p>    “Is that your way of asking?” </p><p>    “No.” Selina didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved, so she settled on confused. Bruce looked down at the confounded look on her face and smiled slightly. “You always told me you weren't mine to lose. That may or may not be true, but I’ll not be the one to chain you. If I asked you might say yes, and if you did I know you would live to regret it.” Selina prepared to bite out a retort, but she knew he was right. She had never been a housecat, always a stray, and that was how she preferred; coming and going as she pleased, never locked down or caged. </p><p>    “As long as I’m welcome here.” It was one thing to come and go as you pleased it was another entirely to be forced out into the cold. </p><p>    “Always.” They kissed softly, and then deeper, reminding each other of the love they shared that needed no definition. There would be battles to come, within and without. There would be heartbreaks, and love confessions, dinners around the kitchen table, and dances in a darkened room. There were nightmares and daydreams waiting on the horizon, and a lifetime of love that promised to be eventful, at least. They would each break a hundred promises and keep a million more. No matter how cold it got, on the streets of Gotham, or the halls of the manor, they would be there to keep each other warm. </p><p> </p>
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